Ferrari's New 12Cilindri Manuale Has a Clutch Pedal and Gated Shifter — Wired to Nothing

Ferrari unveiled the 12Cilindri Manuale on July 3, a limited-edition version of its V12 berlinetta capped at 1,499 units and built through the brand's Tailor Made customization program. The pitch is a genuine gated shifter, a real clutch pedal, and a physical control module bolted into the cabin — but none of it is mechanically connected to the transmission. Underneath, it's still the standard eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox; Ferrari calls the setup "Manuale By-Wire," a system that reads driver input on the shifter and clutch and translates it into electronically-managed shifts rather than an actual row-your-own mechanical link.

The naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 carries over unchanged at 818 bhp (830 PS) and 500 lb-ft, still spinning to a 9,500-rpm redline — Ferrari isn't selling this as a performance variant, just a different way to interact with the same drivetrain. The exterior and interior lean on pinstriping and badge treatment that nod directly to the 1968 365 GTB/4 Daytona, tying the car to Ferrari's front-engine V12 heritage rather than anything from the current lineup.

It's a strange kind of throwback: a manufacturer building a fake manual gearbox specifically for buyers who miss the feel of a real one, on a car whose actual transmission was never in danger of changing. Whether that reads as a clever bit of engineering theater or an oddly literal response to enthusiast nostalgia probably depends on how much you miss the third pedal in the first place — but at 1,499 units through a bespoke program, it's clearly built for people willing to pay for the gesture either way.